Posts Tagged ‘news

10
Dec
18

The Man Behind the Curtain and Understanding Pictures

I’ve known for a long time that people read different meanings into pictures.  Their perspectives are focused on how they connect to the pictures in front of them. This image I’ve made in Spark, as I was trying to learn how to use the software, seeking meaning in visual expression.

Crazy and brilliant

All Brilliant Ideas

But really what do the pictures tell you.  What do you read into them.  Denotations and connotations — which do you prefer?

The choices you make, may be subtle and not mindful.  There is a USA flag and a fence in one picture.  Does that mean anything to you?  Does it mean that liberty is behind a wall?

Does the bench in the wood mean that nature has be “surbanized”?

Does the stretch of road mean their is hope on the horizon?

Really I’m not really sure there is any meaning which I an promoting.  The picture was just an exercise in learning the software.  How to create a layout.  The pictures were selected by how well they grooved together.

I could write a story from the images.  One could take inferences, and model a fiction. The bench could mean in one person’s mind solitude; in another’s loneliness.  When we use pictures to paint a picture, sometimes our meaning is lost as the party perceiving it have a point of view that is quiet different.  The flag is the strongest and most likely skewed symbol.  Some want to stomp on it, light it afire, send wmds (weapons of mass destruction) at it.  Others honor it like a sacred and holy icon.

I spoke to  neighbor the other day about his yard, and referencing the land of Oz.  His yard was recently redone and planted with rye.  The green is bright and vibrant, much brighter than everyone else’s yard in the neighborhood.  He didn’t get the reference.

land_of_oz

Land of Oz

In order to understand the picture you should go talk to the man behind the scenes, the wizard.  Pictures are generated to convey a meaning, most of the time.  To some photography is a form of art, and to others it is a form of message manipulation.  Strong images can elicit strong emotions!

The4 same can be said for modern media.  The images and stories they project carry meaning.  But who is the man behind the media.  What is it that they are saying.  much of the media is owned and operated by a few companies.

These 6 Corporations Control 90% Of The Media In America

According to the above mentioned article there are 233 media executives that control what 277 million Americans read everyday.  The men behind the curtain hold the key to what the message is.

Since the news is controlled by companies, you can bet that the number one reason for the media is to tell Americans something that  these executives want you to know.  [Propaganda is the spreading of information in support of a cause. It’s not so important whether the information is true or false or if the cause is just or not — it’s all propaganda. (Taken from https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/propaganda).] Being a capitalist nation, the focus is on making money. Yes, the imagery of green naturally!

The primary investors in these companies may have something to day about other messages that they want.  The spin doctors use their magic to make the world as green as possible.  Wouldn’t we all like to know what is really going in behind those curtains?

green_curtain

It’s curtains for curtains!

 

22
Apr
16

Quesalupa Cheesy Breaking News

Convenience Foods

People are about convenience foods, and now it seems that fat cats who own the news marketplace are about serving up news that is just as cheesy. They also don’t want to have to do the research to know what is fact or fiction on the internet. Actually companies have cookie which track content you look at and spin everything into your ear that falls within the confine of your tastes, all to drive traffic.  News no longer is about truth.  The Kardashians (Sociological reasons) are news, Sarah Palin is news.  Prince William is news.

fat cats of the press

Fat Cat Press

Blogs

The quality of news is degraded by the blogosphere, many say. That’s because we can cut and snip out portions of news articles from reputable news sources, but the reputable is corrupted by the capitalism of the internet.  Yes, the advertising is what is paying the bills, and the fat cats who make money need the dollars to stay fat.  So really what is news on the web is only what fat cats think will draw money into their coffers. The chart below show the difference between what the public wants to hear about and what the news agencies place as content.

news interest versus media coverage.PNG

Oh, those two percent-ers. They could care less what is in the news, and they don’t see their owning newspapers, radio and TV stations and internet news sources as related to public service.  No, they see it from the penthouse view of looking down on their bludgeoning financial statements.  [Did I mention fat cats???]  Did the company make quarterly sales figures, and what we are left with is a Quesalupa new diet?  Cheesy and full of links to girls showing off their skin, what the hell has that to do with news?

the outrageous crap mixed in your news

Outrageous Carp mixed with News

Even news references are often paid spaces from those advertising, or those selling something, as I’m sure you are aware of half the links are pay-by-click sites driving money into someone’s pocket, and not yours or mine.  Having food, sex, fashion and popular culture, the popular menu items just waters down organization ability to generate decent news coverage.

speaknstomp readership

Write it and they won’t come; Unless you link to popular culture! Then write consistently or your relevance fades fast.

As a blogger, I’m always microblogging and linking to content or cultural aspects of what I’m writing so that I can draw more points from the digital bots, (Google mainly) that reflect the relevance of my pieces. I’m at least up front about it.

[Notice that the first three years I was a super blogger, and now I’ve rejoined the rank ranks]

tower_of_boxes_by_darkvixen8Do you really think my writing is good enough to put my blog up in front of a quarter million viewers, as it has over the past few years.  I’m writing this thing infrequently, and so I’ve found that to have a voice, I have to build a complex system of other people boxes to get up high enough to broadcast in the world of news and social commentary.  Maybe you are like me and lose interest if no one is reading your posts.  Sites like Yahoo and MSN are full of content they did not create, but snagged from other sources like the Huffington Post, New York Times, Reuters, Associated Press, and a load of sponsored site.   Companies like Taboola are helping drive information regardless of its character, authenticity and accuracy.  The ethic is making money now providing reliable news.

 

clockwork orange gangMy social experience is that you need Darth Vader, Clockwork Orange, the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Prince and Michael Jackson type focus to get any real traction on the slippery slopes of blogging. Without them, your content is just zeros and ones floating into a blackhole of the unseen.  Digital conversations with the ether.  The tags are the communication that connects us, not the content.  People are not caring or even wanting your insights and commentary blog world.  They want you porn, your gossip, your pictures of the famous or notorious.  If I could place Osama bin Laden ‘s corpse up, I’d have something that many might like to see especially if it had a video, regardless if the picture was real or not.  Heck didn’t they make an Osama movie focusing on that death scene????  You need some violent psychopathic tendencies to illicit the type of traffic in this “dog eat dog” world.

Advice Point:

When placing popular cultural items in you blog, who cares if they make any sense, they will drive people to your site.

Internet News and Regular News is Corrupt

This graphic depicts the real world of how news doesn’t meet the public’s interest in content. The lines are out of whack.  This is the same reasoning that keeps the cheesy fattening goodness of the Taco Bell Quesalupa on the menu.  Everyone knows this meal is more like a cholesterol and sodium through the roof.   As CEO Creg Greedy, oh I mean Yum Brands Greg Creedy has stated, “Easy trumps better!”  As Yum does care about nutrition and quality, neither does the news agencies we read each day.  So enjoy your cheese, and also don’t worry about indigestion.  The fat cats want your money and they don’t care if you grow stupid by reading the poor quality news and information they  control.  What are you going to get cancer – if it were so they would own medicine?  Oh know, perhaps they do?

Article References

http://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/taco-bells-quesalupa-what-exactly-is-it-w163753

Schnell writes: While many lament the seeming lack of quality, in-depth journalism today, a darth fader close upGawker article argues that the inescapable problem is that you need a paying (in some form) audience (of a large enough size) to do it. There are plenty of free “news” sources to be found online, especially blogs simply regurgitating and putting a spin on wire news reports. But as the article notes, “The audience for quality prestige content is small. Even smaller than the actual output of quality prestige content, which itself is smaller than most media outlets like to imagine.” Even highly respected news sources like the New York Times are resorting to wine clubs, and the Washington Post is giving free subscriptions to Amazon Prime members to drive more corporate synergy and revenue. Rich parent companies are giving up on boutique, high-quality, niche journalism projects like ESPN’s Grantland and Al Jazeera America because there simply aren’t enough TV viewers/online ad clickers to pay the bills. So how do we reconcile our collectively-stated desire for high quality journalism with our (seeming) collective unwillingness to pay for it?

3 stylized facts: i) particular quality news markets are dominated by merely a few providers, ii) demand for quality news appears stable, but provision of news has become specialized; mainstream news is decoupled from quality news, and iii) the dominant business model of internet news mirrors that of radio, television, and newspapers in that costs of news production are recouped via advertising.

6 companies own the America news media are swimming in the money:

swim in money




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Quesalupa Cheesy Breaking News

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